-- sources
THE
Iranian cleric kidnapped in Georgetown early last month in a case that has
baffled police here was possibly alive up to about a week ago, sources said
yesterday.
Iranian
cleric Mohammed Hassan Ebrahimi
Mohammad
Hassan Ebrahimi was executed and his body found in a shallow grave off the
Linden/Soesdyke late Tuesday afternoon.
Results from the post mortem done Wednesday morning indicate that he was "only recently shot", a top source told the Chronicle yesterday.
Senior Iranian police and intelligence officials have been here working with local police on the mysterious case and investigations are continuing, sources said.
A
colonel and another senior officer from the Iran police force, who travelled
to Guyana last week with two Iranian intelligence officials and the Iran
Ambassador based in Venezuela, Mr. Ahmad Sobhani, have remained here to help
in the probe, the Chronicle understands.
"Indications
are that Ebrahimi may have been alive up to about one week ago", a source
said.
The Iranian arrived in Guyana about 22 months ago and sources said investigators are trying to find our more about what he had been doing here.
Abdul
Kadir (ex-PNC MP) 'Person of interest'
He was
kidnapped on the night of April 2 from outside the International Islamic
College for Advanced Studies (IICAS), on Brickdam, Georgetown where he worked
as Director.
Reports
said Ebrahimi, 35, was forced into a getaway motorcar after gunmen discharged
a volley of bullets at his car, which was parked outside the college.
His
Administrator Raymond Halley was shot in the foot but escaped the kidnappers.
Police
are baffled by the abduction because Ebrahimi's captors did not contact his
family and made no ransom demand.
His
wife, also Iranian, who is pregnant with their first child, had been anxiously
awaiting word on her husband.
The wife
and relatives want to take the body back to Iran for burial.
A member
of the Muslim community close to the Ebrahimi family yesterday told the
Chronicle that Iranian officials were working out the mechanics to take back
the body as soon as possible to Iran.
The body
was transported to the city and handed over to relatives after the post mortem
examination which was witnessed by relatives, members of the Muslim community
and the police.
Police
said Ebrahimi was shot twice in the head and buried in a grave about three
feet deep, some 400 yards off the St. Cuthbert's Mission trail and about
three-and-a-half miles in from the Linden/Soesdyke highway.
The
partly decomposed body was found after residents told police there was an
unbearable stench from a point on the trail leading to the Amerindian
settlement at St. Cuthbert's.
Police
said they dug up the grave at about 18:15 hrs Tuesday and found the body lying
face down with the mouth taped, hands tied behind the back and feet tied.
There
were two gunshot wounds to the head, police said in a statement.
The body
was positively identified by Abdul Kadir of the school, which Ebrahimi headed,
and a close friend of the family, police said.
"A
silver cap on one of the lower left dentures and finger ring aided the
identification process", the statement said.
Residents
in the area said they became aware of the shallow grave after the stench
became unbearable while traversing the trail on their way to the Amerindian
settlement.
Police
said the Iranian scholar was wearing the same clothes he had last been seen
alive in.
Meanwhile,
the Guyana Islamic Trust (GIT) has sent condolences to the family of Ebrahimi
and the IICAS.
Head of
GIT Mr. Wazir Baksh yesterday said, "we are very saddened at the
situation, we expected the police would have found him alive".
GIT also
said it was concerned about the negative image the kidnapping and execution of
a foreigner who came here could have on Guyana.
This
incident could detract others from coming here and this is not an encouraging
sign for the country's development, it said.
The
Guyana Police Force has also extended apologies to the ISA Islamic School in
Georgetown for the unprofessional conduct of one of their ranks when the
police raided the school during the kidnapping probe last month.
Assistant
Commissioner of Police, Commander of 'A' Division, Mr. Clinton Conway met the
Parent Teachers Association and senior executives of the school located at
East Street, South Cummingsburg, for a closed door meeting yesterday afternoon
which lasted some 90 minutes.
After
the meeting, the GIT Head Baksh told reporters they were very impressed with
the outcome of the meeting and confirmed that the police did apologise for the
behaviour of one of their ranks.
Responding to a query on what the rank actually did, he said, "He behaved unprofessionally".
Commissioner of Police, Mr.
Winston Felix
Baksh
added that an initial call for the Police Force to publicly apologise for the
raid was withdrawn based on discussions with Commissioner of Police, Mr.
Winston Felix last month.
The
results of that meeting were also satisfactory, he added.
Conway said of yesterday's meeting, "We had some issues we wanted to clear up" but did not go into details.
Friday, May 07, 2004